Acer Laptop Running Slow? 8 Ways to Speed It up Fast

All PCs slow down over time — whether you use an Acer Aspire E15 laptop, or a Predator gaming desktop, it doesn't matter. But don't worry, there are ways to speed it up.

We've found 8 possible causes for a slow Acer, together with related fixes on how to make your Acer PC faster AGAIN.

There are tons of reasons why a PC may run slowly or freeze up randomly (especially Windows 10 based), some fixes work better than others depending on your Acer computer's situation, but we'll show you how to fix that quickly.

Our goal is simple: you decide for yourself how to diagnose and speed it up, no need to spend time and money for a trip to a local computer repair shop.

Although in some cases, you might have to. For example, when your Acer laptop can't turn on, Windows 10 is frozen to death. Anyway, we hope you find this troubleshooting guide helpful.

Read tip: use the Quick Navigation table below to help yourself find the right solutions.

1. Startup is slowing you down

If your Acer laptop is only slow after you press the start button to boot it up, your PC probably has too many startup programs or auto-run services. Not only do they increase boot times, but they'll continue to slow you down thereafter.

How to fix it: Manage your startup applications. Here's a list of helpful tutorials you may refer to for further information.

Note: there may be some automatic programs or services that are unable to be disabled or removed using the above resources. If so, try CleanMyPC (via the "Autorun" feature) to get that done.

2. You've got virus or malware

Windows PCs are prone to be infected with virus or malicious software (also called Malware). When your Acer laptop is running extremely slow, it may be caused by malware running in the background — consuming too many system resources (CPU, memory, etc.). Note: it can be Adware that gets injected into your web browser by adding annoying flash ads, for instance.

How to fix it: scan and remove any malicious threats hidden in your computer. You can use the built-in Microsoft Security Essentials for this purpose, but we recommend Bitdefender Antivirus Plus because it's more powerful and easier to use. Just install it on your PC, run a thorough system check, diagnose and clean all found threats.

3. Battery problems freeze your Acer

For those of you who are using an Acer laptop, and the keyboard or mouse pad often freezes up and becomes unresponsive, or you can't shut down Windows after pressing the power button, it's likely that your battery has some problems.

How to fix it: first of all, start your computer in "Safe Mode". If you are not sure how to proceed, see this Microsoft article. Open Device Manager and expand Batteries. Now disable the entry Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery. Save and restart your Acer in regular mode. This should solve the problem. If the frozen issue persists, shut down your computer, flip it over, remove the battery and put it back, restart the system and check again.

4. Your hard drive is almost full

Nothing slows down a computer than having too much on the hard drive — which often leads to a lack of free disk space. If you can unload it, you're sure to see improvement on speed. The challenging part is that there's no hard rule about the minimum free space, but you should aim to having at least 20% available, i.e. 20GB free out of a 100GB capacity hard drive.

How to fix it: Clean up hard drive. Unfortunately it isn't that simple as it sounds, and you may need to do this manually. For example, searching and removing large duplicates, uninstalling unused applications, clearing up browser junk files, etc. If you prefer the easier way, try CleanMyPC -- a super smart app that does a number of cleaning tasks and keeps your Acer clean automatically.

5. Overheating lags overall performance

It's typical for a computer to heat up and most of the time you don't have to worry about it. But constant overheating can cause the machine to slow down, hang up, even worse — crash.

How to fix it: first ask yourself if you often play video games or use your Acer for heavy photo and video editing activities, if yes, try to reduce the times you do so. Because gaming and similar "heavy" programs demand more CPUs and GPUs (graphic cards) when running thus increase hardware temperature.

Next, check if your Acer laptop has clogged vents or heatsinks. If yes, clean them with a soft brush (make sure you do it gently to avoid damaging other components). Also, consider buying a cooling mat or pad if you're using a laptop. For desktop computers, be sure not to put the mainframe in an environment with high temperature.

6. Network & web browser is dragging you down

Sometimes the slowness issue is unrelated to your Acer, but the network speed. If you are connected to a Wi-Fi that has limited bandwidth, chances are your web browsing won't be that smooth. Also, heavy stubborn web browsers can slow you down as they tend to take more time loading pages.

How to speed it up:

Test on another computer to see if your network is fast enough. If it turns out that is the culprit, contact your Internet service provider and let them resolve the issue.

When using your web browser, try to use as fewer browser tabs, add-ons, etc. — this can slow you down dramatically if you use Firefox.

7. Outdated or failing hardware is killing it

Hardware (memory, hard drive, etc) performance tax more quickly if you use an old Acer Aspire. Not to mention that the volume/capacity could be the bottleneck. For example, Windows 8 requires minimum 4GB in RAM to run smoothly (more for Windows 10). Also, a failing or fragmented hard drive can seriously slow down your Acer as well.

How to fix it: Repair or upgrade hardware components. If your Acer often freezes on third-party programs, consider adding more RAM (memory chips). If your hard drive has a small volume or becomes faulty, replace it with a solid-state drive (SSD).

Warning: when installing new hardware components, it's highly recommended that you ask a geeky friend to help — to avoid hassles. In addition, watch the following video tutorial (8 minutes long) before you start.

8. Your Acer has quality issues

In rare cases, a sluggish Acer performance can be attributed to quality problems. Especially when your Acer is brand new and you haven't installed many applications.

What to do: Contact Acer customer support immediately and request a repair or replacement, depending on the warranty assurance. Note: be aware that you should not try installing another operating system other than Windows (e.g. Linux) by yourself as this could endanger your qualifications for free services. In case you need, here's the official link to get in touch with the Acer Support.

What else? Share your story!

There are many ways to speed up an Acer laptop, depending on your model specifications and other factors (age, using habits, etc). We've heard many times that reformatting the entire Windows system is the only way to go, but that is simply not true.

If you really want to boost your laptop performance and care less about cost, we'd recommend you try upgrading your Acer hard drive to a solid-state drive (SSD). That's almost a guaranteed turn-up solution.

What do you think about this guide? We'd love to hear from you! If you like it, kindly share it with your friends/colleagues; If you have any questions, let us know here.

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